Advent Post #9: Christmas Recipe - Festive Chocolate Slices

These are perfect to make on a quiet morning and keep to share with unexpected visitor who may drop in on you on a festive visit! They will keep for a week in airtight container - if they last that long that is!

Festive Chocolate Slices - makes 25 small slices, takes 35 minutes to make plus 2 hours to chill

Ingredients
200g milk chocolate (or dark if you prefer)
200g unsalted butter
5 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp cocoa powder
20 digestive or rich tea biscuits, broken into pieces
About 100g glace cherries, 60g dried mango and 75g dried cranberries (or a similar weight of a mix of dried fruit and/or nuts)
100g dark chocolate, to drizzle

Method

1. Grease and line a square tin (about 23cm) with greaseproof paper. Break the chocolate into a pan, add the butter, syrup and cocoa and heat gently until the chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
2. Crush the biscuits into small pieces with your hands or a rolling pin. Add to the chocolate mix and stir together. Spoon into the tin.
3. Sprinkle the fruits/nuts over the top while the mixture is still sticky.
4. Chill for 2 hours or until set. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle over the top and cut into 25 squares.

Source: Co-operative instore magazine.

Advent Post #3: Christmas Recipe - Mushroom Bourguignon

Mushroom Bourguignon - serves 4, takes 30 mins, vegetarian, suitable for freezing

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
15g (1/2 oz) butter
125g (4 oz) shallots or pearl onions, halved
1 carrot, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp. tomato puree
2 tsp. plain flour
125ml (4fl oz) fruity red wine
150ml (5fl oz) vegetarian stock
2 sprigs thyme
625g (1 1/4 lb) mixture of mushrooms, halved if large

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and butter in a heavy-based pan. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes, then add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes more until soft. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and flour and cook for 1 minute until the vegetables are well coated.
2. Pour over the wine, stirring well to ensure the sauce is smooth. Leave to simmer for a couple of minutes until the wine had reduced by half. Add the stock and sprig of thyme and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a frying pan. Cook the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, add to the pan, along with any juices and simmer for 5 minutes. Scatter over some thyme leaves and serve.

Each serving contains 159 calories, 4g sugar, 10g fat, 2.9g saturated fat, 0.2g salt.

This recipe is ideal to double up as a delicious mid-week evening meal and then freeze the leftovers for a quick and tasty meal for Christmas week. Just don't forget to label it correctly and reheat thoroughly once defrosted (defrost overnight in the fridge is best)!

Recipe source: Tesco instore magazine, December 2013.